HI, i had a root canal done a year ago on a tooth that was very infected. the whole proceedure was terrible, painfull and done at midnight because i was in so much pain. a year later and i still have pain. most of the time its only when presure is applied to the front side, lately( about 4-5 days now)it has been a constant dull pain. the thought of opening it again makes me sick since i am also very phobic of the dentist. my dentist thinks the tooth is cracked because the xray shows a perfect root canal. the endodontist wants to try and do it again(my dentist did the first one). does anyone have experience with failed root canal versus cracked root? are the pain symptoms different? i would hate to go through another root canal and end up having to have the tooth pulled. i am also so afraid that the pain i had befor the root canal is going to come back. its been a year so does that mean that chances are it won't get that bad again or not? i need help!!

Root canal pain: Usually constant, hurts to cold and doesn't go away. Usually shows up with a dark spot on the xray.

Cracked tooth pain: Difficult to see on an xray. Usually hurts with biting. The pain on biting is one of the primary symptoms.

It could be that the tooth was cracked before, during or right after your root canal and that was the reason for the pain on biting. If there was a crack in your tooth, that would have allowed bacteria to infiltrate the canals again and cause a re-infection of the tooth and explains the constant pain you are having now. It is difficult to say for sure, it could honestly be either. I would think that having the endodontist do it would be a more comfortable experience than your dentist, if you were to have it redone.